“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you. If my body was a pretzel, I could do yoga like you! ” HA!

I received so many glorious birthday salutations, including the above stated poem, on Friday. Thank you! Officially a member of the #FitOver36 group, I hereby wish to recount my weekend of celebratory glory.

The party started on birthday eve, with a weird food craving. Trust me, I exist as pregnant NOT. But the craving was so intense! And my cravings always come in two options: as the clean or as the naughty. The naughty form of this specific craving would be the Wild Curry by Nicky’s Thai Kitchen, revised and ordered as excluding all of the vegetables, keeping only the fried tofu and mushroom in the delicious red curry sauce, add steamed broccoli into which I shall dip the head in the sauce, eat the head, and gift Gwendolyn with the clean stem! But I went with the clean version of my craving: Raw mushroom dipped into sugar free ketchup (recall that I stayed abstinent from ketchup for over four years until recently!).

And steamed kale for my Gwendolyn. I might have dipped some of that kale into ketchup and eaten half of the box myself. 🙂

Next up, selfies as we awaited spa night at Pearl Aesthetic Perfecting Studio!

At this luxurious appointment, I received the most comprehensive pedicure and manicure OF MY LIFE thus far! Why so different than others of the past? Because owner and friend Amanda is newly trained in the art of the Russian method which uses a drill on the cuticles. Woa baby!

Pearl is one of two known day-spas in Pittsburgh who offer this divine ervice. It was incredible and although I hate feet (nasty, lol), I cannot stop admiring of my own.

Tell me she isn’t a Queen, and I shall laugh in yo face!

The sweetest of manicures.

Gwendolyn wanted to buy for me a new huge cosy robe by P.J. Salvage, so we ventured to Nordstrom, but to our surprise, they had not one single robe available!! Boo hoo. But the lingerie looked so pretty. I wanted it all but restrained because I think that lingerie is a luxury and I have no boyfriend so what’s the point? Lingerie is meant to impress. And to stand as background for Gwendolyn’s portrait, ha ha!

At the liquor store, I was carded, on the eve of my thirty sixth birthday! How very fabulous! And from there we fetched sushi, returning home at 10pm when I completed a 45-minute Peloton ride followed by 45-minutes of manic cleaning of the apartment, taking me into the midnight hour, aka my BIRTHDAY! I know. You’re thinking that I’m crazyAF.

Someone sang to me happy birthday. 🙂

And I prepared the sashimi and sushi onto elegant plates, prepared a martini, and played the lottery! Isn’t that just the cutest scratch-off?

Food stored in refrigerator!

Sipping martini, we viewed episode one, season one, of This Is Us. Ironically, it is Jack Pearson’s and The Big Three’s thirty-sixth birthday. Wow wow wow!

Oh it just gives me chills! Such an extraordinary television series! I have no pictures of the 03:00am sushi feast because when this girl is hungry, nothing’s gonna stop her Jefferson Starship style, even a sushi selfie, ha ha! But on THE NEXT MORNING I paid for my late night shenanigans! Several of my friends, notably my PeloBFF Erica, my Idaho Olympic Gymnast sister Cece, and my elegant Frenchie artsy most joyful human on Earth especially in Canada sister Hélène planned to meet me for a 06:00am Peloton ride! This meant 04:00am Cece’s time. And guess what. Because I set an alarm NOT, I awoke at 06:18am, 18 minutes late! F***!! But I rushed and reached the bicycle by 06:22am. By that point, my mobile had blown up with WHERE IS THE BIRTHDAY GIRL messages, ha ha ha. My sweet amazing friends. Thank you for accepting my fashionably late arrival to the party. And to Jennifer Jacobs – you threw the BEST birthday ride for which a girl could ever hope!

Immediately hopped onto the yoga mat, completing five surya namaskara A and five surya namaskara B. OMG it felt so good. Followed by hanumanasana with my monkey!

It was a DAMN crazy day, fueled by coffee and no sleep, I was delighted to meet with Becky midday because she brought my BIRTHDAY KALE!!!!!!!!! As cited by my Instagram post, “This featured kale was made by and lovingly dehydrated by my Becky. It is pre-gooped in a delicious concoction of macadamia nuts, cashews, amino acids, nutritional yeast, dates, and other items!! Most girls beg for bday cake. I beg for bday KALE. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂♥ .”

Would you say that I have a bulimic dog? Ha ha ha! And yes, she stole it directly from my mouth!!!!!!!!! I suppose she is trained in this art. Have you read my post dated 2015, How To Give With One’s Mouth? It’s a classic.

In addition to the kale, Becky steamed for Gwendolyn a big bag of carrots. We are so privileged to have Becky’s friendship and love!

After we finished all of our daily requirements, it was a quick 30-minute Peloton ride leaving just 20 minutes to primp for 05:00pm drinks with friends at Eddie V’s. Honestly, it’s a chain, but it’s my new fave in Pittsburgh. Elegant. Classy. Fancy. Back in the early aughts, Palomino was my favourite for these exact descriptors: elegant, classy, fancy. And then it went away! Boo hoo! Nothing came close. Until now. The Sex & the City ambiance is achieved by this restaurant. Joined by my girlfriends Becky, Lee, and Cheryl, we sipped cocktails all night long, the girls all buying one round apiece, followed by gentlemen sending over drinks! Cheryl stayed with me until the very end! And OMG it was fun dujour. I shall not display pictures from this event because I do not want to get anyone into trouble – ha ha ha! Oh but this picture shall do. It is of my first martini, ordered before everyone arrived. Before the wildness.

And my shoes. 4.75″ pumps.

Next day we moved a little more slowly. LOL!

Sweet girl sleeping in the sun.

Our Saturday night plans canceled on us, SO THAT MEANT A DATE WITH JUST GWENDOLYN, THE PELOTON, AND A FILM! Trust me, we were looking forward to the Saturday night plan, but I treasure Mommy and Gwendolyn time even more madly.

I made her walk in the rain, ha! Then I cycled! Then we chilled.

Next day, on Sunday, after teaching yoga to my favourite people on Earth (and to their dogs), we met a ginormous puggle named BOOMER! Aged 9.5 years, he is precisely Gwendolyn’s junior by 11 months.

Speaking of yoga, I received messages all day, from all of my tribe, from all over the world. One friend in particular, Hélène, over-extended herself to ensure that I received a video or picture or INTERNATIONAL PRESSIE IN THE MAIL, all throughout the day. It was incredible. If only I knew, seven years ago, when I got kicked out of yoga school and lost my yoga friends that one day, I would find a YOGA FAMILY!!

After everything stood as finished, I had a craving for ghetto peanut butter at 11:00pm Sunday so we ventured to the convenience store for a fix. LOLOLOL!

Related

6 Comments

GhettoFebruary 14, 2018 @ 8:13 am

So. A pretend peloton, a pretend night out with friends (old women like Becky at a bar being so wild you can’t take a photo? okay) and pretend yoga teaching! Sounds like the ghetto piece of your life isn’t your peanut butter, but your struggles with reality.

adminFebruary 14, 2018 @ 8:14 am

why does struggle translate to ghetto, and how is that a compassionate assessment?

GhettoFebruary 14, 2018 @ 9:25 am

Why does peanut butter translate to ghetto, and how is that a compassionate assessment? If we all can label things ghetto as it pleases us, we are both just expressing ourselves in the same way aren’t we? You and the peanut butter are both nuts, but I wouldn’t call either of you ghetto. You’re a white girl on assistance in Pittsburgh.

adminFebruary 14, 2018 @ 10:19 am

ha ha ha ha!! yes we are both nuts, indeed! and i agree on your commentary on transalation to ghetto. and might i add, i am ghetto FABULOUS. 😂😂😂 i hope you’ll enjoy my upcoming Podcast episode. scheduled for release today!

FrancoiseFebruary 16, 2018 @ 1:16 am

I hesitated to leave a comment, but decided to go for it. You have found your balance and peace and self-love and creativity. I know how HARD you work from early morning to late at night. People are cruel, aren’t they. But self-love is a shell and allows us to love even those who don’t love us. Lots of hugs to you et Gwendolyn!

adminFebruary 16, 2018 @ 2:20 am

YOU know the truth, and I love YOU madly for recognising it. Thank YOU for the greatest birthday tribute for which a girl could ever pine! Thank YOU for the special friendship of a lifetime. I love you!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter email address to subscribe to this blog and to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

Archives

Archives

Categories

Categories

Social Media

My name is Nicole Marie Story. I am the creative director of The Yoga Ballerina, an editorial on yoga, peloton, politics, and my dog. I believe in human perfection and strive for that state in everything that I do. Having lived with an eating disorder for 17.5 years, I am presently writing a book on how I crushed the disorder and achieved joyful living. Gwendolyn is my fur baby, and together we create adventures which I convert into written and verbal stories through my blog and podcast. Namaste!